The Cover of Darkness
by BookNerd7
Summary: When America is struggling to maintain it's superpower reputation, one girl can change the balance of the world's leadership forever.Unfortunately,her name is Max Ride and she would rather steal than help ANYONE out.Her world is about to change forever.AU
1. Chapter 1

_America demands invention and innovation to succeed. -__Kit Bond

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The quite murmuring of voices reached the man's ears as he walked into the room. A large conference table dominated the room, facing a large blank plasma screen mounted on the wall. Of the dozen chairs at the table, only one was empty.

The man stood in front of the screen and faced the various men and women seated around the room. The room fell silent with his presence and he waited a second before clearing his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a clear, calm and strong voice. A voice that radiated authority. "As you know over the past year, America has been plagued by a thief. But not just any thief. This person has managed to steal some of the most priceless and heavily guarded objects in America, including the infamous 'Tatiana's Crown' which was stolen last night." He paused for a second, acknowledging the gasps of shock.

He continued. "Until last night, we were successful at keeping these thefts concealed from the media. Needless to say, the theft of the crown is now plastered on the front page of every major newspaper in America. The task force selected for this case have only had one major breakthrough. A camera concealed by an ATM was able to get an incomplete video of the thief exiting a street near the museum housing the crown."

A grainy picture came up on the screen. An empty street par one person obviously walking fast with their head pointed down as if to avoid the storefront cameras. Unfortunately for them, they seem to have missed the ATM's camera and the video revealed the face of a young woman as she glanced around quickly. The video froze and zoomed in on to the face then sharpened. Surprised whispers ran across the room as the people recognised what they were seeing. On the screen was an incredibly young woman, perhaps only sixteen years old.

"From this picture, we have been able to identify the woman in the picture." He paused to look imploringly at the audience. "Unfortunately, there is not trace of her. Nothing at all. So I am now asking you personally, you as the combined heads of separate intelligence companies have the manpower to find this woman."

A hand rose above the heads of the other people, and he looked at the small nondescript woman sitting before him. Although seemingly harmless, she was the head of the FBI and had proved on numerous occasions that she was not to be underestimated.

"Yes, Miss Martinez," he nodded at her.

"Excuse me for asking sir, but what makes her so important. She's just a thief; surely you do not need all of us to find her."

"And to my second order of business. You see, only one other piece of information has been revealed about this woman. Put simply, she is a genius. And an incredibly capable inventor. America is finding itself more and more behind other countries in technology, and Japan has far surpassed us. But this woman's inventions are decades ahead of Japan. We need to capture this woman, so America remains the superpower of Earth."

An aura of agreement filled the room and he knew he had their support.

He closed. "Ladies and Gentlemen. I implore you to give us the manpower to not only catch an extremely capable thief, but to give America the boost it needs. I need you to help us catch Maximum Ride."

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**A/N Well… that was shorter than expected. I've had this idea for months but it's taken me a while to put it into words. The next chapter will be up as soon as I've posted this one.**

**Review!**

**~BookNerd7~**


	2. Chapter 2

_If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime, it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief, but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal.  
- __Denis Diderot

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The machine made a gentle whirring as I was quickly but surely lowered just above the pedestal. The harness cut into my back and the sweat on my hands made them slippery. I had already disabled the cameras, but the motion sensors on the floor were on a separate channel and I had no time to switch them off. This led to me being lowered down from the damn ceiling using only a small machine attached to the glass dome above me, and a centimetre thick micro fibre rope.

I sighed in relief as the whirring stopped. I was hovering just above a marble pedestal, surrounded by a red velvet rope. That wasn't the only security though. The red velvet cushion (with tassels) on the pedestal was encased in a inch thick glass container which I would hazard to guess had an invisible laser detection system, so if anything so much as touched it, about a million alarms would go off.

The necklace which sat on the cushion was probably connected to a switch, so in the case of its removal, it would trigger more alarms. I had already cased this area earlier, and noticed the small gaps in the floor in doorways; gaps which probably housed bars, so as to seal off the area.

I sighed and looked at the necklace. It housed a _red _diamond. Contrary to public opinion, it was not actually diamonds that are the rarest stones, but coloured diamonds, of which there are few. This red diamond was one of about a dozen coloured diamonds around the world. Combined with the white diamonds surrounding it and the platinum chains holding the stones together, the black-market price was about twenty million.

However, pretty (and expensive) it may be, the security was still disappointing. I yearned for a challenge, but the hardest theft I had done so far was the Crown of Tatiana which had been so easy I had it out of the door in fifteen minutes.

I planted a small round device on the marble pedestal, which, unlike the glass, was not triggered for alarms. Well, not by touching it anyway. The device was about the size of a small coin and the width of an average paperback book. It was completely sealed and the only difference from the matte black surface was a small black glass segment which displayed a red light.

I pressed a button on my harness and rose up about two metres above the pedestal. I then took out a small rectangular black box about the size of a Hershey bar out of a black backpack. I pressed my thumb against a small depression in the surface and the box opened to reveal a small screen and an even tinier keyboard. The screen emitted a sudden flash of light that last about a second before the screen powered up and a white screen displayed a small text box, with no other markings. This was my personal computer and as it was, had more security than the necklace. A fingerprint analysis opened it, and the flash of light scanned my eyes for my identity. I then entered a thirty digit password, a mix of letters and numbers, and it logged in.

Of course, even if someone had somehow faked my fingerprint, eye print and found out my password, the keyboard was programmed to only let my DNA use the keys. As an added precaution, if the computer detected it wasn't me using it, a small piece of C4 inside it would detonate and the entire thing would be turned into a small pile of ash.

I quickly brought up a program and keyed in the range of the device on the pedastal and detonated. Surprisingly, there was no explosion, just brief flash of light. I lowered the rope and again came level with the pedestal. Taking out a small vial of green liquid out of my bag, I sprayed it onto the glass and waited a few seconds. A wisp of smoke rose from the glass and in seconds a small section of glass was reduced to goo. I quickly put a gloved hand inside the container and grabbed the necklace. The switch that would have previously set off alarms satisfactorily sabotaged with the electromagnetic pulse emitted at a two metre range from the black device.

Carefully putting the necklace in small velvet box and into my bag I keyed in command in my computer. The device was reduced to a pile of ash, its use spent. I hung there for a second. Soon, I would be gone, another useless night of stealing something that was about as much as a challenge to me as reading a book.

Biting my lip, I contemplated an idea. It was stupid. Very stupid. But I was bored and this would at least add some excitement to my night. Lowering the rope slightly I gingerly stretched out a foot and touched the floor. Instantly, the motion sensors felt the intrusion and alarms went off throughout the building I smiled. Footsteps could be heard outside the doors leading to this room and I pressed a button on my harness, triggering the emergency rising. In seconds I was at the top of the ceiling. I swung through one of the windows making up the glass dome (which had suspiciously no glass in it due to a certain glass cutter) and landed on the roof. Grabbing the device that had held the harness, I ran to the edge. Already police cars surrounded the building and police were cordoning off the museum. I ran to the other edge. The museum was about ten stories high, and definitely perfect for my escape plan.

Surveying the sky before me, already showing signs of dawn, I secured my bag and jumped off the edge. Straight away I pressed button on my harness and _wings _erupted out of my back. Or more accurately, black, microfilament fabric, set in the same shape as a basic hang glider, but attached to my body, turning my dive into a gentle glide.

I glided between the buildings of Manhattan, finally coming to a rest on the roof of a small nondescript one story warehouse, obviously abandoned.

To the untrained eye that is.

A small hole, about the size of my hand was punched into the roof. It looked like it had once housed a pipe of some sort and was weathering around the edges. I stuck my hand in and waited a second as the scanner inside read my DNA, and in case someone was using the hand of my corpse; my pulse. If the scanner detected someone other than me, a large blade would cut off the hand of the unfortunate would be burglar. A trapdoor appeared out of nowhere beneath my feet, and I fell down a slide for a couple of minutes, heading deeper and deeper underground in darkness.

Finally, my feet landed on solid ground and I stood up. I was in a bare concrete room, about the size of a broom cupboard. A solid metal door rested at the end of the room. I walked over and said in a clear voice whilst at the same time, raising my eye to a small camera in the middle of the door.

"Delta Max Delta One Alpha Two."

The voiceprint analysis confirmed that it was really me, while my eye was temporarily blinded by the flash of the eye print scanner.

I shook my head that; had to be changed.

The door opened silently and I walked into a bare hallway, finally feeling the adrenaline leave my body. I made my way through the hallway finally entering a modern lounge. I turned on the lights and went to sit on the couch.

Unfortunately, someone was already there.

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**A/N Well, I hope that was sufficiently long enough.**

**I should be able to update this story at least once a month.**

**Tell me if you like it!**

**~BookNerd7~**


	3. Chapter 3

_"It is not the thief who is hanged, but one who was caught stealing"_

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"One day I'm going to kill you by accident you realise?"

"As if you could."

I smiled as I surveyed the teenage boy sitting in front of me. With white-blonde spiky hair, perfect teeth, tanned skin and an earring in one ear, he was the epitome of a laid back Californian teenager. He was anything but. James 'Iggy' Griffith was one of the most established young criminals in America. He was also my best friend. When he was in the country.

"I thought you were in Spain?" I asked reaching for the small mini fridge in the coffee table and opening a can of coke.

"Got back last night," he answered also reaching for a can.

"You finished the job that fast?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

He gave me the bird. "It's not like breaking into a hotel is hard work."

"I thought you were providing certain, ahem, firepower?"

"I was. Until my employers found out that it would be easier if we could just steal our target's possessions from his hotel room where he was meeting his mistress," Iggy snorted into his drink. "Idiots didn't even check his schedule before going to Spain."

I sympathized with him. Although I did occasionally steal for myself, the real money was when someone paid you to get a certain item. The problem with this however, is that many employers end up to be idiots, and we waste valuable time while they panic. I sighed. Not that had happened in a while.

Noticing my expression, Iggy changed the subject. "So... How's your security system working?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was the picture of innocence.

"How the hell did you get past it? It took me three months to finish it." He sighed dramatically.

"Why would I tell you how I got past your defences if you never tell me how you get past mine?" I grumbled quietly but didn't press it. Whenever Iggy was passing through, he hunted for the location of my hideout and surpassed my security defences, no matter how elaborate they were. Granted I did the same thing with his hideouts, but still, it was annoying when he did it with such ease.

"At least tell me how you got past through the hand scanner?" Iggy sighed in defeat.

"Fine. I found the entrance at the top easily but I couldn't find a way to get through it," I smiled smugly. "Not so fast. You're second entrance however was a bit easier."

"But it had the same defences!" I protested.

"No it didn't. You forgot to put the vibration sensor on it. A little bit of plastic on the side of the wall..."

"You bombed my entrance!" Iggy had a thing for bombs. Where my specialty was electronics, Iggy could make something explode from anything. _Anything._

He looked shiftily to the sides, assessing the exits. "No..."

"Please tell me at least it was C4 and not some crap you pulled together from the things in your pockets?"

"I said plastic did I not?"

"Last time you said plastic it was actually a Barbie doll, wired to explode." I looked at him pointedly.

"It was actual C4 explosive. No harm done."

"Apart from the big hole in my wall," I replied dryly.

"Yes, apart from that."

I sighed quietly and felt the evening's exhaustion crash onto me.

"Tough night?" he asked?

"Boring. I'm sick of these easy jobs. Six months ago people payed me hundreds of thousands to do jobs for them. Now I'm barely getting ten thousand and for what? Stealing some useless trinket that had security that I could bypass in my sleep."

I closed my eyes for a second. "Igs, I'm going to bed. You can stay in the guest room but that hole in the wall better be patched up by the time I wake up. We'll talk more in the morning."

Iggy looked like he was going to protest for a second before nodding. He wanted to talk about something important, that much was sure, but I was too tired to care.

"Night," I called as I walked out.

"Goodnight Max," he called back, still sitting on the couch, his face showing emotions he usually kept hidden.

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Unfortunately, no matter how exhausted I was, I did not sleep well. Nightmares plagued my sleep. People screaming, knife wielding men, total darkness. And utter hopelessness.

I woke in a cold sweat and looked at the clock. 5:00 Am. I was sitting in my bedroom which was one of the few places in the house that showed my personality. Black walls, adorned with silver Celtic symbols and navy swirls. My bed was the same design, a four poster affair that I could usually sleep in for days. The wall opposite was completely taken up by book shelves filled with some novels but mainly non-fiction work. Any subject I had displayed an interest in, I found as much research as I could for. The science and engineering section made up the bulk, holding over 350 books.

The only window was only a metre square, tinted on the outside, and completely hidden. As an added precaution, black curtains were pulled against it, blocking any of the weak sunlight that would have leaked through.

A sense of yearning shot through my heart and for a second, I imagined not having to block out the sunlight in my room, or having a trap that cuts people's hands off in the entrance. Hell, having a front door would be good enough. Or a real house.

"What's that wistful look for?" Iggy's voice from my door tore me from my dreaming and I shook my head as if to rid the traitorous thoughts that had plagued it. Why should I live in a real house? I was a thief. A good one at that. I didn't need the boringness of normalcy.

"Nothing," I said and looked up at him. He looked typically dishevelled and was holding a tray with what looked like breakfast. My stomach grumbled and I was suddenly reminded of how long it had been since I had eaten.

He walked over and set the tray on my lap.

"Thought you could use some food."

"I love you Iggy. I really do." I said, picking up a waffle.

"Right Max. And I'm not a corrupted teenager." I snickered.

Within five minutes the tray had been emptied of all food.

"Geez Max. Hungry much? How long has it been since you've eaten?"

"Three days. No, wait. Four." He whistled in disbelief.

"What the hell were you doing that you couldn't eat?"

"Working on something," I answered vaguely.

He rolled his eyes. He knew my gadgets were something I guarded jealously, even from him.

"Anyway," I continued. "What did you want to talk about?"

Iggy immediately looked uneasy. Something was up.

"Why would anything be up?" he asked, averting his eyes from mine.

"One Iggy, you cannot lie to me. Ever. You should know that by now. Two, you came here only just after you got back from Spain. You would usually wait four days or so. And three, you made me breakfast," he looked ready to argue but I silenced him with a look. "No matter how good your intentions were, you were still trying to butter me up."

He sighed in defeat. "Damn it Max, how do you do that?"

I just looked at him. "Fine, fine." He paused for a second. "I got us a job."

"A job?" I asked sceptically.

"Don't be so quick to dismiss. The payout is ten million. Each." I whistled appreciatively. That was a nice sum.

"So why are you so cautious about it?" I asked.

"Well... It's not exactly what we'd call a normal job." I resisted the urge to say a sarcastic comment and gestured for him to continue. "It's a long term infiltration job."

"Spying?" I asked with distaste.

He shook his head. "Not exactly. You know Roland ter Borcht?"

I snorted. Who doesn't? He was the owner of the one of the most exclusive medical companies in history. The School. Weird name, I know. Of course, like all successful businessman, he delved into illegal activities. He was well known in the underworld for paying large sums for jobs. Of course these jobs were usually assassination so I wasn't sure what he wanted us for.

"I thought he only hired assassins?" No matter how much of a criminal I was, I didn't kill people.

"Not this time. Have you heard of the Institute?" I shook my head. "It's another medical research company. Before they weren't much of a threat to ter Borcht, but rumour has it, the Institute has just discovered some major medical breakthrough. If it's released, the School could lose billions of dollars worth of stocks."

"So what do we need to do?"

"Ter Borcht wants the discovery, and apparently one of his sources says it won't be released for a couple of months."

"So we steal it."

"No." I looked at him in confusion. "When I said long term infiltration method, I meant long term infiltration method. Ter Borcht wants us to find proof that it exists first, and then, steal it."

I paused for a second. "Why can't we just steal it first?"

Iggy sighed. "The owner of the Institute is a certain Anne Walker, and is one of the richest people on the planet, along with ter Borcht."

"Hmm... maybe I should think of a career in medical research." Iggy didn't laugh.

"This _means _that any research she has is probably going to have a hell of a lot more security than some museum."

"What's your point?" He sighed.

"So it needs to be an inside job. We're going to have to learn a lot more about this place before we can get inside."

"What place are we talking about?"

"The Institute's main building. This is not only where their main research labs are, but this is where Walker spends most of her time."

"You mean the Institute Tower?" Iggy nodded. "That place is frickin fortress."

"That's why we're going undercover."

"Alright. I'll bite. What's our cover story?"

"For the next few weeks, The Institute is celebrating its first birthday. For two weeks straight there'll be parties and social events at the tower."

"Two weeks. Someone likes birthday parties."

"In those next two weeks, our job is to infiltrate the building and its people and find out more about this so called breakthrough. This means we'll have to be attending the parties and ter Borcht has given us new identities."

"Kids at a social event?"

"Not just any social event. The biggest and brightest will be attending these parties. Think Hollywood parties, but with much more famous people. Of course this means everyone will be showing off. We're not just going to be kids; we're going to be the niece and nephew of ter Borcht. He has kindly given us a chance to work at the School for the summer, and of course, attend the Institute's birthday."

"Won't people from the School attract attention?"

"Anything but. Every major company will be attending, and we'll just be two excited kids given the one in a lifetime chance to be in the world of the golden class."

I sat there for a couple of minutes. Iggy was right, this wasn't a normal job, but it paid well, and honestly? I needed a challenge. This sounded perfect.

"Who are we?"

"We're the kids of ter Borcht's sister in law. Maria and Tom Smith."

"Smith?"

"We're actually going to be impersonating the real Maria and Tom, so that's their real name."

"Oh."

"The birthday celebration is starting in three weeks. If you agree to the job, we're flying to California tonight. That's where the School and the Institute are located. As well as Maria and Tom. We'll be spending a week with them to make sure the cover story is accurate."

"Do we look anything like them?"

"Surprisingly so, although our hair is slightly different. So, what do you think?"

I studied him for a second. Iggy was nervous, but I could tell he wanted me on this job.

"On one condition." Iggy looked bewildered. "I want Nudge."

"What for?" he asked warily.

"We're going to need some back up. She can play one of our friends or something."

"It would be a good idea," he pondered. "I'll need to confirm it with ter Borcht though." I nodded.

He walked out, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he went. Five minutes later he walked back in. I looked at his sparkling eyes.

"Let's go get Nudge."

**A/N This was actually a lot longer than I thought it would be. Sorry it took so long to write.**

**Anyway, if you like it please review. If you don't like it, please review. If there are any mistakes or things that don't make sense, please review. If you are being attacked by a resurrected Pterodactyl, please review.**

**Thanks, **

**~BookNerd7~**


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